Tag Archives: Pain

Pushed

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A waving stick man made with Pivot

A waving stick man made with Pivot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I got used to it.  So did you.  A long time ago, perhaps before we were born, we got used to it.

There was plenty of things to keep me busy.  So it didn’t matter that I was being forced to move beyond my will.

Oh, there were times when I really, really, desired to remain in a certain place a while longer.  But the push came anyway.  I got used to even this annoying aspect of life.

Let a man push me like time does and I’ll grow angry at him.  But his push is momentary.  And time comes along to push me past that point also.  So I get used to it.

WHAT’S THAT ON THE HORIZON?

There’s a light approaching.  I’ve heard about this place.  “I don’t want to go”.  But the familiar push comes anyway.

Compelled, we are.  We will enter that contractual closure.  We were handed a certificate of life when sperm met egg.  That certificate expires on the separation of soul and body.

“I don’t want to go”.  But I’m so used to being pushed that I forget to even give consideration to that hand at my back.

My skin rips away.  Muscles leave me.  Bones no longer support.  Restraint is gone.  But another certificate of contract is applied to me now.

Something comes to mind.  Even in this place of pushing, something comes to mind.   What is the substance of that contract which will replace the one I am currently living under?

Will it be life?  Will it be death?  Now is the moment to choose.

Time is the invention of the One who pushed me toward that eternal contract.   He has allowed me to taste this temporal contract.  And has warned me sufficiently about the contract which lay on the horizon.

Here it comes.  HEY!!!!!!  YOU!!!!!   Stop fiddling around with that gadget and look up!  Listen to me!  But the man looks up with dazed eyes and groping hands.  He wants that gadget.  He’s got no interest in what I’m trying to tell him.

He too is being pushed.  His contract will terminate.  A new one will be applied.  What then?

Delightful Pain.

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Human heart. Picture taken during autopsy.

Image via Wikipedia

The Lord’s hand is upon me.  I am dressed by His Grace.  All day long His Word is on my mind.  And how my heart aches to hear His voice.  But His Powerfully Gentle hand rests on my shoulder.  And we both gaze at what is good. 

“Ache then heart!”  Ache to love your God!  He made you beat.  He gave you blood to churn.  And by this gift you support this ache.  Yet He is ever so much more.

Strain to listen.  Strain to see.  Lend every nerve ending toward all that is good.  Seek Him till you find the limit He has imposed upon you. That place where He has declared, “Thus far you shall come, and no farther.”   Ache, my heart!

By His Grace.

Dear World

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Dear World:

I see that you are becoming upset at the current state of your ways.  You witness happenings around you that you consider negative toward your desires.  One might even say that you are pondering your current plight with perplexity.  You want your way with all things as you have always wanted them.  And you have been duped by the witness of your ancestors.  They have handed down to you a testimony of greed, corruption, idolatry, immorality, drunkenness, lies, murder, and a seeking after every form of pleasure.  I know you’re worried about being able to continue this legacy.  And I know that in your heart you have a deep desire to pass this “freedom” down to your great grand children.

I have bad news for you.  What you are witnessing is real.  Slowly, your ways (as itemized above) are stripping your future from your hands.  You will lose everything you have sought to gain and keep.  And you will shed great tears as your desires are taken from you.  Yet, not all is lost.

I have good news for you.  Jesus stands ready to receive your repentant and contrite heart as you lose your precious sin.  He offers you eternally good things to replace the toys you have invented for yourself.  You will lose all those toys.  But what He offers you will never lose, if you take Him up on His offer.

You are the creation of God.  He has given you a body and soul.  He provided a place for you to live that you might seek Him and find Him and return worship to His Holy Name.  But you chose to desire the work of your own hand.  The door is closing on you now.  I know you can hear the squeek of massive hinges as the Wind of God slowly closes your world around you.  Turn and be healed.   Continue to rebel and die.

By His Grace.

The Deer

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I watched helpless yesterday, as three dogs killed a deer on the other side of  the rushing water.  No sticks to throw.  No voice loud enough to drive them off.  No stones on the muddy bank to throw.  No gun.  And, in the end, there was no hope for the deer as she thrashed bellowing like a bear.  In a short time she would be no more.  And by the time I had arrived her legs had become useless.  Nothing I could have done would change her situation.   I ponder her fate.  How horrible to end her graceful life at the teeth of such ravaging. 

Now I ponder my own future when I too will encounter my last moments.  As all men will do.  Will I have lived for the Glory of He who never dies again?  What pain He endured at the hands of hateful men.  And He did it for us all.  Will I embrace my certain time as He? 

This Deer might have been food on the table of a hunter.  If the circumstances of her death were different.  And yet, look.  How has her death become a testimony for all of us.  Without her terror, this post would never had become.  Now we are left with a ponderous task.  Shall we pitty her and forget her in a moment as we go about our day’s tasks?   Or will we allow that her death impact us toward God’s throne.  May the Lord allow that her testimony of life entering death become a reminder to us that we too are bound for the same place.  And yet we are man, we are not animal.  We make choices.  She could not but obey.  And what is there in your life which the Lord might use to wake you from slumber?  Surely there are more testimonies regarding death.  This whole world yells out the message of God: “I made you that you might seek My face.  Look around you and listen to what is before you.  You will soon come to Me and receive the reward of your life.  What do you say regarding My Son?”

Lord, give me strength to see Your way.  I wish to do Your Holy will for the sake of Your Holy name.  Glorify Yourself in this man.  My time is surely coming.  And I, like all men, have never been to that place.  We are like grass in our way.  And You have determined the end of our days here.  This is a place of testing.  May I move through this place with the power of Your Glorious hand.  May Your Will be done forever.

By His Grace.

Earthly Trials We Deserve.

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There is a place a man purchases.  For most these places are many.  We forsake the Lord’s commands and reap the situations such forsaking spawn.  A thief, for instance, might well have forsaken the Lord’s command regarding stealing.  When he is caught and punished, it is not likely the Lord will remove the punishment.  Each of us must encounter the results of what we have done in this world.  If we lie to someone and are caught later, we will need to endure the fruit of that sin.

Shall we say that the Lord has forsaken me because I forsook His commands?  No.  Though we are standing trial for treason, we may still have Him by our side.  He will never leave us.  Isn’t that the promise?  Yet He made no promise that everything we do wrong will find good and favorable things at the accomplishment of their end.  He has promised help to do what is right.  But sometimes we must encounter the results of our wrong doing.

What shall we think, then , if we are about to enter a period of troubles of our own making?  Face them.  Enter as a Child of the King.  Humble yourself under the hand of justice and accept what is coming.  It was you who built it.  It will be you who endures the punishment.  He will not leave you during these trials.  But He warned you before you committed the act for which you now pay.

Above all, remember, the Lord of Life is perfect.  Perfectly merciful, perfectly just, perfectly powerful, yet He demands an accounting.  It is no good mark in your favor for receiving the punishment you are encountering.  After all it’s the result of your wrong doing.  But there is a blessing which will help you encounter this punishment with humility and wisdom.  Take what is offered by your God during these times and bear the punishment as a willing participant.  If anything can be redeemed, it is that you will accept God’s will in regard to sin.

By His Grace.

Depression

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I read many blogs from people who are depressed.  Some are considered clinical in their depression.  To all who suffer with depression I have a note:

I too suffered a great period of depression.  Death and self torture were part of my every waking moment.  So why am I able to cope without all that now?  I often read their blogs and consider what made the difference.  I know it was Jesus who lifted me out of that sink hole.  But if I tell that to you, you think to yourself, “He just doesn’t understand.  He’s just another one of those questionably helpful sort”. 

If telling you what Jesus has done for me would help, I’d spend all my time writing.   But I know it won’t help many who are still in it.  I can’t help you.  The medication won’t take it away, it only reduces the symptoms.  Jesus is the answer you’re looking for.  But I can’t make you believe that.   And certainly, the doctors and even the entire world won’t tell you Jesus is the answer.  So why believe me?  Because I testify that He does help the helpless! 

“You will seek me and find me when you look for me with all your heart, and I will be found by you”.  Right now you have nothing.  What have you got to lose by seeking for His help with all your heart?

By His Grace.